February is Black History Month. To commemorate the event, our Junior classes looked at "Freedom over me: Eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life" by Ashley Bryan. "Freedom over me" is a collection of eleven different fictional stories that the author creates around the very real Fairchild's Estate Appraisement from 1828. In the Appraisement, the prices of the estate slaves are listed alongside horses and handmills: One Bay Mare $100, One Handmill $1, One Negro Man named Bacus $250. In a very unique way, Ashley Bryan adds a very human face and story to the human property of the Fairchild's Estate. Each story is divided into 2 parts: a fictional account of their life and their dreams for the future. Vivid illustrations combine with compassionate accounts of real lives from a time when slave ownership was a reality. "Freedom over me" is an exceptional work of children's literature and not to be missed.
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